RIGA, Latvia — They’re playing for their country, but Rachel Homan, Emma Miskew, Alison Kreviazuk and Lisa Weagle are also playing mostly for themselves in this women’s world curling championship.

Sure, there have been dozens of Canadian supporters among the hundreds of spectators in the Volvo Sports Center, but thousands watched them claim their first national title at Kingston on Feb. 24, and the number of relatives and family friends has also been diminished by a combination of distance, time and expense.

“It’s a little bit different this time around,” Homan said Sunday. “I think we’ve got around six (fans), but there’s a couple more coming later in the week. The fans and the crowd are a little bit different, but we’re having a lot of fun.”

Homan’s uncle, Brent, is in Riga, and expected later this week are Miskew family friends Grant and Angela Lawson, who attended not only the nationals, but also the Ontario women’s championship at Kitchener-Waterloo in early February.

“We all wish they were here, but we realize it’s quite the expense to come over here, and there wasn’t a lot of turnaround between Scotties (Tournament of Hearts) and worlds,” Kreviazuk said.

Doug Kreviazuk, her father, is particularly noticeable for his absence from the arena, according to the 24-year-old second.

“He’s always the loudest one in the audience, riling up the crowd,” Alison said. “It’s just really cool.”

Cool, or at least much cooler, was what the members of the team from the Ottawa Curling Club were after rebounding from a 6-4 loss against Scotland on Saturday.

After shooting a combined 74 per cent in that one, Homan and Co. were at 85 per cent in a 7-5 victory against Latvia and 82 per cent in an 8-2 thumping of Denmark. Kreviazuk’s improvement was particularly striking: to 90 and 91 per cent, respectively, from 65 in the opener.

Those results left Homan’s team 2-1 and in a five-way tie for third in the 12-team round-robin. Silvana Tirizoni’s Swiss rink and Margaretha Sigfridsson’s Swedish foursome lead at 3-0.

What the good folks still at home missed seeing in person on Sunday was a much more confident Canadian team, even though, according to Miskew, the lack of family and friends on site made little difference to their play.

“You don’t hear the cheers after great shots, like we did all through Kingston, which creates a more fun atmosphere,” she said. “But we’re not always going to be the home team. It’s not that different, but it’s just that, with all the people there, it made it seem so (grandiose).

“Here there aren’t that many people that are going to come and watch. It still feels like a world championship. There just aren’t as many people who are here, that’s all.”

Only three years ago, Homan, Miskew and Kreviazuk (as team alternate) wore Canadian colours in the world junior championship at Flims, Switzerland. They lost the final to Sweden.

Then, as now, the crowds were much smaller than similar events in their home country would attract, but it still gave the Canadians a general idea of what to expect in Latvia.

“Without that, we would have had no idea what we were coming into, so it was great to have that experience, but this is a completely different feeling,” Miskew said. “It still feels great to wear the maple leaf, no matter what event it’s in.”

Canada’s Monday schedule included a morning contest against Russia (2:30 a.m. ET) and a later game against the United States (12:30 p.m. ET). Round-robin play continues through Thursday, followed if necessary by tiebreakers to determine the four playoff qualifiers.

The championship concludes with bronze- and gold-medal games next Sunday.

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